Talladega is always a gamble, and with the superspeedway race looming large in the 2025 championship, the NASCAR Ford drivers look to be in a strong spot – for now, at least.
The good news is that NASCAR Ford drivers tend to excel at Talladega, which is scheduled for October 17th through 19th, 2025. The Blue Oval boasts 10 wins in the postseason Playoffs. Team Penske has led the charge, thanks to the expertise of drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney in particular. Austin Cindric is a good bet, too – he piloted the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the win the last time the Cup Series visited Talladega in the spring, and he could do it again.
Blaney, meanwhile, had an abysmal run at Las Vegas last weekend, putting his hopes of a second Cup Series championship in peril. The driver of the No. 12 NASCAR Ford is keeping his chin high, though, despite Talladega’s reputation as a wild, unpredictable race.
“I think when you have Talladega in any round in the Playoffs there are going to be challenges,” he said. “I look at it from that perspective of points and guys that could win. It kind of shrinks the field of playoff guys that can win and move on. It’s still gonna be scary and you never know what’s gonna happen, but we’re fortunate to have that problem right now and getting there and competing, but it doesn’t matter to me what round it is in.”
Logano said that having Talladega in the penultimate round of the championship creates a unique set of challenges for drivers, but that it shouldn’t be treated any different than the other races.
“When we start in Daytona, those are the rules,” Logano said. “We all know it. We all know the schedule. We all know how everything goes and it’s up to us to figure out how to do it the best. They’re not gonna change because we don’t like it. They are what they are, so let’s go figure out how to win with it.”
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